Chapter 373: I Missed You
One hundred and eight Nascent Soul cultivators?!
Even if each of them was only at the early stage and not too difficult to handle individually, quantity had a quality of its own. Too many ants can bite an elephant to death—even for him, that was a terrifying number to face.
Just as his scalp began to go numb, he noticed something strange:
The earth puppets that had just leapt out of the ground seemed to have... glitched.
Their previously soaring auras, which had reached Nascent Soul level, began to plummet—falling all the way down to the peak of the Golden Core realm.
"?"
With the pressure on him abruptly relieved, Luo Wusheng was filled not with relief, but confusion.
What just happened?
"Their cultivation level adjusts based on the opponent… This place must be a trial ground set by the Sword Emperor inside the Secret Realm."
Hearing Ling Shuangxue's voice, Luo Wusheng turned toward his beloved. Now that he no longer felt threatened, his full attention shifted to her.
And it was a rare sight—this normally graceful and aloof sword fairy, one of the few Elders of the Sword Sect, was blushing.
That subtle shame accentuated her naturally stunning figure even more.
Luo Wusheng couldn't help but gulp, his mouth suddenly dry.
She looked so tempting, so soft and embarrassed… that he nearly lost control on the spot.
But then he noticed the strange and complicated look in her eyes and quickly understood what she meant.
(So… those puppets glitched? They locked onto my cultivation as Golden Core peak at the last moment, so their strength dropped accordingly?)
But what about her just now?
Did she face one hundred and eight mid-stage Nascent Souls?
The thought made Luo Wusheng shiver.
Without wasting another second, he stepped forward. In a flash of movement, he appeared beside the beautiful, upside-down woman.
He ignored the huge horde of earth puppets filling the hall, and simply raised his right hand.
A wave of purple tribulation lightning swept out.
Wherever the lightning passed, all sword auras sent out by the puppets were instantly neutralized. Those puppets too close were directly shattered into pieces, leaving only their black stone swords clattering to the floor.
Luo Wusheng couldn't do much when it was one hundred and eight Nascent Souls—but now that they were just peak Golden Core, he could go all out and obliterate them.
The divine tribulation lightning carved out a safe zone, shielding everything inside from incoming sword strikes.
The puppets were rooted in place and couldn't move. They seemed to lack intelligence and just mindlessly kept swinging their swords, as if refusing to stop unless destroyed.
"Trial ground?"
Now that he was sure these puppets posed no more threat, Luo Wusheng finally spoke up, locking eyes with his wife and pretending to seriously seek clarification.
Still blushing, Ling Shuangxue paused for a moment, bit her lip, then replied:
"These puppets appear the moment someone steps into this place… I've fought them several times. Each time I reached a desperate situation or showed signs of losing, they'd stop. Their bodies would vanish, and only the swords remained on the ground."
She looked away awkwardly.
"Because this is a trial, it won't take my life. Their strength adjusts to match yours… and depending on how well you do, there are corresponding rewards and penalties…"
Luo Wusheng glanced at her again.
Yeah, judging by her current state, the "penalty" was pretty self-explanatory.
"L-let's not talk about that right now… Help me down…"
Ling Shuangxue's embarrassment finally reached the breaking point.
After Luo Wusheng had left, she had imagined countless ways their reunion could go.
Every scenario had been beautiful, filled with warmth and romance.
Never once had she imagined it would turn out like this—being seen in such an utterly humiliating state, dangling upside down in front of the man she loved. The sheer embarrassment nearly made her faint.
But Luo Wusheng, ever the exemplary husband, would never refuse a request from his beloved.
In fact, he very considerately reached out to help hold down her dress for her.
"..."
Feeling a large warm hand press her skirt down against her thigh—and even give it a little squeeze—Shuangxue's dainty pink fist clenched tightly.
That emotion was very clearly conveyed to Luo Wusheng.
Having indulged himself a bit, he quickly shrunk his neck like a scolded puppy… then sneakily ran his hand over her full, smooth thighs twice before stopping himself just in time.
After that, he looked up, intending to examine the water current that was keeping her suspended.
However, before Luo Wusheng could act, the water stream proactively released the restraints from Ling Shuangxue's legs.
"Hm?"
Luo Wusheng swiftly caught his beloved midair in a princess carry just as she fell from her upside-down suspension.
He looked up at the stream of water flowing back into the ceiling pool, slightly stunned.
Even Newton's coffin can't rest in peace in a cultivation world... Wait, why did it go back on its own?
(Was it scared off by my overwhelming dominance aura or something?)
The beauty now cradled in his arms—Ling Shuangxue—was also caught off guard.
Had she misjudged him?
Was he actually trying to save her just now, and she'd been too harsh?
But her moment of doubt was short-lived.
She quickly realized something.
"Put me down. And step back."
Her voice was a bit rushed, and she averted her gaze, not looking him in the eye.
Only the tips of her ears, now faintly pink, betrayed her flustered state.
"...The water above will restrain the trial participant for about half an incense stick of time after a failed attempt. Once time is up, it releases the binding and begins the next round of the trial."
Hearing her explanation, Luo Wusheng took a moment to fully process her words.
And then… he understood.
Looking around, he saw that the spots where he had obliterated the earth puppets with his tribulation lightning were now bulging with earth again.
The undestroyed puppets around the edges had begun surging in aura, rapidly climbing to mid-stage Nascent Soul level.
...Crap.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Turns out, facing 108 mid-stage Nascent Soul puppets at once really was overwhelming.
At least for this freshly bonded pair of Dao Companions.
Luo Wusheng, reflecting on the storm of raw strength that had just crushed him, could only sigh inwardly.
(So this trial zone was unlocked because the Sword Emperor's broken sword absorbed so much spiritual energy this time, and strengthened our connection… which caused it to open up a new map, huh?)
(I must admit, that ancient powerhouse really was something else…)
But still, if possible, Luo Wusheng wished the Sword Emperor could get a proper understanding of the word "trial."
A hundred and eight puppets of the same realm—
Sure, they were immobile and had limited attack patterns…
But wasn't that still ridiculously over-tuned?
(Is "trial" synonymous with "hell difficulty" for you people? Or were cultivators in the ancient era just built different?)
Grumbling internally, Luo Wusheng looked over at his wife.
After getting absolutely steamrolled by the flood of mid-stage Nascent Soul puppets, and bearing her grievous glare, he had listened as she told him about everything that had happened during his absence.
Only then did he fully understand what had changed with this newly unlocked third map of the Secret Realm.
They were now back in the familiar bath chamber, albeit in a still-ridiculous situation:
Both of them were suspended upside down again.
"So… if you could return directly to this place, why didn't you do it earlier?"
Ling Shuangxue stared at her surroundings, recognizing them clearly, and asked Luo Wusheng with more than a little edge in her voice.
Clearly, she believed he'd enjoyed watching her be hung up like that far too much.
Her fist was already starting to clench again.
"I only just now noticed I had access to that kind of admin permission…"
Luo Wusheng scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
If he'd known earlier that he could just flip the table and skip maps, he definitely wouldn't have gone toe-to-toe with a crowd of mid-stage Nascent Soul monsters.
Without using any of his trump cards, just dodging the overwhelming waves of sword energy had nearly exhausted him to the point of collapse.
After finally managing to take down one puppet, he got ambushed from another direction because he didn't have time to catch his breath, resulting in a complete KO.
(That said... I technically had the map-switching permission back then too. It's just... that bath was way too tempting, and I didn't want to return to the original hall map at all...)
Burying that little detail deep inside, Luo Wusheng gave a light cough to cover his guilt.
"Ahem. Still, that trial did yield decent results... and the punishment wasn't that hard to endure…"
However, Ling Shuangxue just stared at him quietly.
"Er… My dear wife's beauty is unparalleled, so even in that position earlier, you were still—"
"You're still talking?!"
Seeing his wife raise her delicate pink fist, a blush coloring her cheeks and a mixture of shyness and irritation in her eyes, Luo Wusheng immediately realized he'd said the wrong thing again.
He quickly averted his gaze and leaned back a little.
And yet, though he had retreated, he could feel her slowly stepping closer.
But the iron fist of justice he was expecting… never came.
That small, clenched hand simply landed lightly on his chest, then slid upward and gently grabbed the collar of his robes.
With one tug, the distance between them closed in an instant.
Her soft, moist lips pressed a cool kiss to the corner of his mouth before drawing away.
Her beautiful face gradually pulled back, her crystal-clear eyes reflecting only him—soft, and just a little hazy.
"...I missed you."
As she whispered these words, her hand let go of his collar and slowly slid down his arm, until her fingers intertwined with his.
It's just three simple words, yet the affection carried in them was so tender, so longing, that Luo Wusheng felt he finally understood the phrase:
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
At this moment, his world held nothing but the woman in front of him.
"I missed you too…"
Following the call of his heart, Luo Wusheng responded, pulling the soft, warm beauty in front of him tightly into his embrace and claiming the lips that had just slipped away from his own.
He pressed his tongue forward, parting her lips, slipping between her pearly teeth, and tasted the sweetness within her mouth.
Ling Shuangxue didn't resist.
Her soft tongue intertwined with his, shy at first, but slowly growing bolder as she followed his lead in a passionate dance.
By the time they parted again, a trail of silvery thread still connected them.
Somehow, at some point, most of their clothing had already come undone.
Their breathing had grown uneven, and the sound of racing heartbeats filled the room.
In that moment, nothing else mattered.
Only the face before their eyes existed in the world.
"Lights off…"
"Okay."
With that simple exchange, the hall dimmed.
A soft, dreamlike glow shimmered within the pool waters.
And the only sound that remained was the gentle splashing of water and the sound of flesh clapping into another flesh.
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Note: Link to the character Illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD[1]
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[1] https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD
[2] https://www.patreon.com/user?u=93297024
[3] https://www.patreon.com/user?u=93297024
[4] https://www.patreon.com/posts/chapter-487-cry-149583539
[5] https://www.patreon.com/posts/chapter-487-cry-149583539